An archaeology project near Millom has announced a series of open days to be held along side the exploratory excavations.

Millom and District Local History Society will be conducting the dig along side Greenlane Archaeology of Ulverston after being awarded a grant of just under £30,000 by Cumberland Council as part of the government’s Levelling Up scheme.

Over twenty volunteers will be trained and take part in digging exploratory trenches near the castle and in a field where cropmarks suggest there might be a Roman or Iron Age settlement of some kind.

“We have no idea what we will find because it is clear this area has been inhabited for thousands of years,” said the Chair, Jan Bridget.

“But we are delighted to be awarded the funding and are hopeful of finding something and I personally, would love to find evidence from the Roman period.”

Training will start in May with the digs taking place during June and if anything significant is found, and if more funding is available, there could be further digs next year.

Members of the public will be invited to watch the dig on certain days and it is hoped students from Millom High School will take part.

There will be four open days when the public are invited to see the Community Dig.

There will be a background presentation in Holy Trinity on each day, at 10am and 1pm followed by visiting the various trenches but the sites will be open to the public all day.

The days are:

Saturday, June 15, 10-4
Sunday, June 23, 10-4
Saturday, June 29, 10-4
Monday, July 1, 10-4

The presentation will not take place at 10 am on Sunday 23, as there will be Sunday Services at the church.

The project has come about after metal detectorist Josh Carr found a hoard of six Bronze Age metal axe heads last year.

There have been many artefacts found in the area going back to the mid-19th century when two Bronze Age urns full of bones were found, another urn full of siver Roman coins and more recently coins from Roman times, various kings and queens including King John, Henry 7th and 8th, Queen Elizabeth 1st through to Queen Victoria.

As well as Roman brooches, an Iron Age terret ring used for holding reins to guide carts/chariots, and lead artefacts including weights, ampullae and Anglo-Saxon play pieces, as well as numerous lead musket balls from when the castle was under siege in 1644 and further attacked in 1648 during the English Civil Wars.

Once this phase of the project is completed there is an event planned for the end of August when the results will be shared with the public.